Food and You 2 FHRS Wave 10: Executive Summary

Overview of Food and You 2

Food and You 2 is a survey, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), that measures consumers’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues.

This report presents findings from the Food and You 2: Wave 10 ‘eating out and takeaways’ module in which respondents are asked about their awareness, use of and attitudes towards the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) ^{(footnote 1)}.

Fieldwork for Wave 10 was conducted between 9th October 2024 and 7th February 2025. A total of 4,804 adults across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland completed the online or postal version of the ‘Eating out and takeaways’ module.

Key Findings 

Awareness and recognition of the FHRS 

89% of respondents had heard of the FHRS; 89% in England, 94% in Wales, and 92% in Northern Ireland.

62% of respondents had heard of the FHRS and knew a lot or a bit about it. Respondents in Wales (73%) and Northern Ireland (66%) were more likely to report knowledge of the FHRS than those in England (61%).

Of those who had heard of the FHRS, 85% had come across the FHRS through a food hygiene rating sticker displayed at a food business premises, 36% had come across it on a food business’s own website, and 20% had come across it on a food ordering delivery website or app.

When shown an image of the food hygiene rating sticker, 91% reported that they had seen the sticker before. Recognition of the sticker was slightly lower in England (91%) than in Wales (95%) and Northern Ireland (95%).

Respondents were most likely to have seen the sticker in a restaurant (82%), café (71%) or takeaway (65%) in the last 12 months.

Use of the FHRS

Around 4 in 10 (44%) respondents had checked the food hygiene rating of a food business in the previous 12 months (either at the business premises or online).

Respondents in Wales (59%) were more likely to have checked the food hygiene rating of a business than those in England (43%), and Northern Ireland (49%).

Of those who had checked the food hygiene rating of a food business, most respondents (82%) had done this by looking at a food hygiene rating sticker displayed at the business.

The most common types of businesses where respondents had checked ratings were restaurants (73%) and takeaways (69%).

A quarter (25%) had checked the food hygiene rating of a business on a food business’ own website, 23% via an online food ordering website or app (for example, Just Eat, Deliveroo, Uber Eats), and 15% of respondents had checked on the FSA’s website.

Use of the FHRS in decision making

Of those who had heard of the FHRS, most said that they would still eat at a restaurant or takeaway if they saw a food hygiene rating sticker with a rating of 4 (good) (93%) or 3 (generally satisfactory) (60%).

Most respondents reported that they would not eat at a restaurant or takeaway if they saw a food hygiene rating sticker with a rating of 2 (improvement necessary) (82%), 1 (major improvement necessary) (94%) or 0 (urgent improvement necessary) (95%).

Of those who had heard of the FHRS, around than 1 in 10 (9%) respondents said that a rating of 5 (very good) is the lowest rating they would consider acceptable when considering buying food.

44% would consider a rating of 4 (good) as the lowest acceptable rating, and 36% of respondents would consider 3 (generally satisfactory).

Of those who had heard of the FHRS, 58% would be less likely  (selected option ‘much less likely’ or ‘a little less likely’) to eat at a food business that did not have the food hygiene rating sticker present at the entrance.

Of those who had heard of the FHRS, the most common concerns that respondents said they would have if they visited a food business that did not display its food hygiene rating sticker were that the food business had poor hygiene standards (50%) and that it had a poor or low food hygiene rating and was trying to hide it (49%).

Respondents in Wales (59%) and Northern Ireland (56%) were more likely to be concerned that the food business had a low/poor hygiene rating and was trying to hide it than respondents in England (48%).

View on mandatory display

Of the respondents who had heard of the FHRS, 92% thought that food businesses should be required by law to display their food hygiene rating at their premises.

94% thought that businesses providing an online food ordering service should display their food hygiene rating where it can clearly be seen by customers before they order food.